No Omake this time, didn't feel right with the chapter content.

As always, big thanks to Cr00cy for saving my bacon as a Beta Reader.

Italics = Branwen thoughts (it's hereditary)

Fighting Hurt


Qrow groggily began walking down stairs, heading toward the kitchen.

Damn, my head hurts! I didn't expect the kid to drink that much his first night out, does Aura help with that shit or something? Speaking of which, whatever happened to him?

As he passed through the living room, Qrow found his answer. Two forms were piled on the couch, Jaune leaning on Yang with his head tucked under her chin, and a blanket halfway covering them both beginning to fall to the floor.

Oh, right..that.

He vaguely remembered his words from the night before. 'He's all yours now.'

Dammit drunk Qrow.

He shrugged and headed into the kitchen. Damage was done now. No way this turns out well for me, might as well get some breakfast and shake this hangover.

He was about halfway through brewing his coffee when he heard footsteps at the entrance to the kitchen.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?"

Didn't expect it to go south quite this fast though.

He sighed. "A lot Firecracker, anything in particular you want to talk about?"

"Don't you 'Firecracker' me! How could you do that to him!?" She whisper-hissed.

I hate whisper fighting.

"We just went to grab some drinks Yang, nothing sinister."

"Oh, is that what it was? Just 'grabbing some drinks'?" She mocked. "Cause that's not the story that I was getting told last night, when you threw a drunk Jaune at me."

Was it too much to ask for coffee?

Then it hit him. "Shit. How much did he tell you? Did he talk about the-"

"Oh, I know all about the Pyrrha recording Qrow." She said crossing over to him. "I know about the nightly training sessions."

Dammit.

"Then you know the kid needed a release, hence the drinking."

"He needed help is what he needed! Dammit Qrow, he's just like Dad was after Summer passed!"

Not this subject this early Yang.

Qrow felt himself becoming heated. "No, no he's not. Tai had the sense to stay home when he was out of commission! Your boyfriend in there decided that he was going to go on a damn world tour, chasing some of the most dangerous assholes in existence with almost no training!"

He pointed toward the living room.

"That kid is equal parts balls, rage, grief, and fucking rawhide toughness."

She got in his face. "And you thought that hard liquor was what was missing from that formula?"

God, I hate family fights. They brought out the worst in him.

"He needed something!" He matched her gaze.

"He needed someone to take care of him!"

"And who was going to do that Yang? Was it going to be you? Maybe while you were still laid up in Patch, trying to figure out if this Huntress shit was for you?!" He growled.

She leaned back, the hurt plain on her face.

It didn't stop him. Nothing would at this point.

"He did what he damn well had to. He was strong. You know why? Because somebody had to be!"

"He's going to kill himself if he keeps listening to that shit Qrow!" She protested.

He scoffed. "Nah, kid won't off himself, there's too much anger inside him for that. Killing himself would be weak, and if there's anything that pisses that kid off now, it's being weak. Now, running into impossible situations again and again until he finds a place to die? Sure, he'll do that shit all day. That's why I took him out Yang. I've seen that look before."

Yang was livid. "You've seen it before?! Where is that, oh wise, old uncle Qrow? Shouldn't you know how to deal with it then?"

"In the damn mirror Yang! Everyone around that kid was falling apart after Beacon, so you know what he did? What he had to, he pushed his grief deep down and let the anger take hold so he could be strong. He did it because shit needed to get done, and there was no one else that was going to do it!"

This is too raw, you need to stop.

He didn't.

"He's the kinda guy that knows when a loved one ask you if you're ok, you say you're invincible, because you don't have time to be anything but. That's why that kid is all smiles, that's why none of you knew, cause he knew you couldn't handle it!"

He pointed a finger accusingly in her face. "And he'll keep doing it until he breaks. So yeah Yang, I got him fucking trashed, cause it's all I could do, it's the only thing i know how to do." He was seething.

She had tears in her eyes. "I can't believe you! You're trying to turn him into you!" She turned and fled into the other room.

"Where you going Yang!?

"To get him away from you!" She shouted back.

All sense of quiet forgotten, Qrow yelled after her. "I thought you liked 'badass' Jaune? What's the matter, you don't like all the baggage that comes with it? Don't worry, that just makes you like all the rest Firecracker!"

His rage spent, he slumped back against the wall, ashamed. For the thousandth time, wishing he was less of a good drinking buddy and more of a good friend.


Yang stormed back into the living room to find a groggy Jaune pushing himself up off the couch.

"Oh, my head! Yang can you keep it dow-" He paused as crimson eyes met his cerulean.

She needed to get him out of here. She needed to get out of there.

"We're leaving."

"What? Yang, what are you talking about?" He asked with a confused look.

"Guys, what's going on?" She heard a familiar voice call as it came down the stairs.

Dammit, Ruby.

The short black and red-haired girl reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Yang, what's going on? Why are you and uncle Qrow yelling?"

She tried to bring herself back down. It's not her fault.

"Qrow is being…Qrow." She said through gritted teeth. "Jaune and I are going into town for a bit."

"You are?"

"We are?"

"We are." She confirmed with a glare focused on Jaune.

"Yang, it's like seven in the morning. Where in town are you guys going?" Ruby looked incredulous.

Jaune joined in. "Yeah, Yang I don't think I'm feeling the early morn-"

"Then it's a good thing I wasn't asking." She snapped.

She sighed. Never was good at calming down.

"Listen, Ruby, I need a favor. Can you just make sure the Qrow stays here? I need a second."

The young girl started to open her mouth to speak.

"Please."

Her sister nodded.

She whipped around.

"And you!"

"Eep!"

She snatched up his arm.

"We. Are. Leaving."

She dragged him through the hall and out the front door, pulling him onto the same cobblestone street another Branwen had hauled him across a few hours prior.

Jaune's eyes squinted against the morning light.

"Yang, my head is killing me." He complained.

"Yeah? Whose fault is that?" She growled.

"I'm going to blame Ren, that guy incorrigible."

Wrong time Jaune.

She spun on her heels.

"Really Jaune? Jokes? That's what you're going to go with right now?"

He gulped. "It's worked out well so far."

"Do I look like I'm having fun?" She demanded.

"Yang I-" He shook his head and started again. "Yang, what's wrong? What's got you so upset? Do you need to talk about it?"

She laughed at that. "Jaune, you are powerfully oblivious."

"I'm pretty sure it's my Semblance."

The corner of her mouth twitched upwards at that. No! You don't get off the hook that easy Vomit Boy!

The frown returned. "Jaune, you know what we need to talk about."

He looked away. "I-I'm sorry I encouraged Qrow's drinking."

She was dumbfounded. He's either still joking, dumb, or intentionally trying to piss me off.

"Who gives a damn about Qrow drinking! That's what he does Jaune, he drinks! It's what he did last night and it's what he'll do tomorrow!" She put a finger in his chest. "What we're talking about is why you were out with him!"

He hesitated. "He, uh…needed a drinking buddy. Said he didn't want to get in trouble with Ozpin."

I'm sure he didn't.

"Jaune." She looked him in the eye. "I want you to think very, very, carefully about this before you answer me again. Why were you out with Qrow?" She asked slowly.

His eyes began shifting. "Yang, I-." He paused. "I'm not sure what you want me to say."

The truth you dumb blond.

"Jaune…I know."

He took a step back.

"What are you-"

"Jaune, you told me. I saw."

It's ok Jaune.

His eyes were wide now. His hand reached for a scroll that wasn't there. She could see the panic set in, his head darting around till his vision fell upon a familiar scroll sticking out of Yang's coat pocket.

She didn't have much time, she could see it in his eyes. He was looking for an exit, an escape. If she let him speak, if she let him walk away, it was over.

She did the only thing she could. The only thing that would hold him here.

She hugged him.

"It's ok."


Ruby walked into the kitchen to find her uncle leaned against the fridge, emptying his flask into a bowl of Pumpkin Pete's. It would have been shocking if it had been the first time...or the tenth.

"What happened?"

God, he loved her for that. It wasn't 'what did you do' or 'how could you?' It was just 'what happened.' No judgement.

"I was me." It's not a good look.

Ruby shook her head.

"Nope."

"Nope?"

"Yang wouldn't get that mad about that."

"It was a pretty good bender Short-Stack."

"Was it a bender with Jaune?"

He winced. "Yeah, the kid was looking after me. Think I might have gotten him in trouble with Firecracker."

She pressed. "Why'd you take him?"

"Look kid, I told yo-"

"Stop." She stared him down.

God, you look like your mother when you do that.

"Short-Stack…Ruby…I found the kid…in trouble." He paused a took a breath. "Me and Firecracker, just…disagreed on how to help. Don't worry about it, it'll blow over."

"You saw him out there didn't you?"

He froze.

"Ruby…"

"H-he…he was…listening to her again wasn't he?"

His eyes widened.

No. Not you too Short-Stack.

"I…I saw...I saw him on the way to Mistral."

There were tears in her eyes. It cut him to the core.

"I-I just stood there! I didn't say anything! I just walked away and hid in my sleeping bag!"

She was sobbing now.

His bowl fell to floor as her pulled her into a hug.

"It's ok Ruby, it's ok." He whispered.

"I…I've never seen somebody hurt so much! I got scared!" She bawled. "I'm such a bad friend."

She held him like he was the only anchor she had left.

"It's not your fault." He stroked the back of her head. "You're not a bad friend. It's just…bad things happen to good people Ruby. It's scary, I know it's scary."

"But..but I just left him! He...he came all this way because I asked him to, a-and he's hurting so much, and I..I just left him!" She sobbed into his shoulder.

"It's ok Ruby, you didn't know what to do. He's a tough kid..."

God, he'd give anything to be someone else, someone better right now. Summer, Tai, anyone.

Her head popped up and she stared into his eyes with a look full of terror.

"What do we do?! How do we help him?!"

The next words were excruciating.

"I don't know Ruby. I just don't know."


The rest of their walk into town had been in silence.

Jaune had stopped trying to plan an escape route after she had finally let him go, but he also hadn't said a word to her. He simply let her take him by the hand and start back down the path to town.

That's ok, I can wait.

She confidently guided him through the slowly awakening streets of the small town, watching as farmers brought their goods to merchants setting up their stalls, and shopkeepers began flipping the signs on their doors.

She didn't know exactly which restaurant she was going to, but she knew what she was looking for.

We need someplace quiet, we need someplace where we can actually talk. There!

The coffee shop looked like it had just opened, a small place with plenty of small wooden tables placed outside under a small terrace. It would give them room and quiet to talk.

Perfect.

Yang guided him over to one of the tables, flagged down a waiter and ordered them both coffee. She waited till the server returned before trying to start talking. This wasn't going to be the kind of conversation they'd want interrupted.

He still wouldn't meet her eyes.

She took a deep breath and started.

"Jaune-"

"I'd really rather not talk about this right now."

She nodded.

"That's ok, we've got time."

"No, you don't understand. Yang, I don't want to talk about this today. I don't really want to talk about this this year."

Too fucking bad.

"We need to Jaune."

"Do we though? Yang, I've been keeping up, it's not a problem."

She sighed. She knew this wouldn't be easy.

Time to try a different approach.

She placed her hand on his.

"Jaune, you've done more than keep up. You watched after Ruby all the way to Mistral. You took care of them all Jaune."

He looked at her for the first time and gave her a small smile.

"She was going to go anyway, she dragged us along."

Sounds like Ruby.

"It's more than I did. I was laid up in bed for weeks after you guys left." She smiled at him. "Seriously, Jaune, I can't thank you enough."

He shook his head. "Yang, you were dealing with a lot, nobody blames you for not being ready. Besides, you're here now, that's all that matters."

I blame me.

His eyes dropped again.

"Also, I'm sorry."

She cocked her head. "About what?"

"I wasn't there during the fight. I wasn't able to help you guys with the Fang or the Grimm. I-I could have done…something."

Don't slap him. Don't slap him. Don't slap him.

Her hand twitched.

"Jaune, I think you might have missed the part where you fought someone who killed Ozpin and the Fall Maiden." She deadpanned.

He sighed. "Fight is a pretty generous term for what happened that night."

"Are you seriously blaming yourself for what happened to me? To her?"

He flinched at that.

Sorry Jaune, we have to do it sooner or later.

"I-I could have done…something. I-I should have been stronger."

"Jaune, listen to what you're saying." She pleaded. "You're saying that you wanted to stop both Cinder and Adam? No one could do that!" She rubbed at her right arm. "Hell, Blake and I couldn't take Adam together. What were you going to do?"

She jumped as his hand slammed on the table.

"Anything!" He shouted. "Yang, do you know where I was while Pyrrha was fighting? In a goddamn rocket locker!"

Shit. She couldn't imagine how powerless that felt.

He leaned across the table.

"Do you know who put me there, Yang?" He smiled at her.

It was not a pleasant smile.

"Pyrrha. Pyrrha kissed me, shoved me into a locker, and shot me away from the fight."

Fuck.

He leaned back, his exhaustion showing on his face.

"Can you guess why Yang?"

Don't do this to yourself Jaune.

"Because she loved you."

He nodded in agreement.

"Because she loved me...and because I was too weak to help."

"Jaune-"

"But you know what my favorite part is?"

She didn't want to know, but she braced for it.

"It's that I had no idea. I was so oblivious that I couldn't figure out how she felt." He looked into her eyes. "What about you Yang, did you know?'

She looked away.

"I…I was pretty sure."

He let out a humorless laugh.

"And you weren't even on our team. So, let's count that off, shall we?"

She really didn't want to.

He started counting off on his fingers.

"I didn't stop Cinder, I couldn't save Pyrrha, I didn't help in the battle, and I couldn't even return her feelings. So yeah Yang, I haven't been feeling at the top off the world lately."

I have to get him off this ledge.

"But you've kept moving, you've kept getting stronger."

"Thanks to Qrow."

"Thanks to Qrow?!" She growled. "Thanks to Qrow, you half drowned yourself in booze last night Jaune."

"He's been helping me." He defended. "I'm stronger now! I needed something Yang! He showed me how to get by!"

She felt herself fighting to keep her eyes from changing.

"And getting by is all Qrow has ever done! He's limped along for years now!"

His voice started to rise to meet hers.

"He's the strongest guy I know!"

"Physically? Sure, he's a tough old bird. But let me ask you Jaune…" She pointed a finger at him. "Where was he when I lost my mom, either one? Why hasn't he ever moved on? Why does he try to drink himself to death every night?"

She knew her eyes were blood red right now.

"You want to be like Qrow? Cause I promise it's not a good look for those who care about you."

They sat in silence for a moment, both looking to the ground.

He heard a soft sound coming from her, and looked up to see her shoulders hitching up and down.

He reached out for her. "Yang-"

"P-please." She sobbed. "Please don't go down that road Jaune. You're so much stronger than that!"

She whispered. "Please be stronger than that."

He did the only thing he could do.

He hugged her.


Qrow had carried Ruby back to her room after the initial breakdown. This was a private matter, a family matter, the rest of the house didn't need to know.

He'd wished that he'd had something else to offer her in the hours that followed besides a shoulder to cry on, but then, he'd never really learned to be anything else. He'd had to move her to the bed once she had exhausted herself.

He stroked the now sleeping girl's hair as he looked down at her.

Sorry I couldn't be something better for her Summer. I wish that I was.

His thoughts turned to his other niece and their conversation earlier that morning. He winced.

I could've handled that better.

He could've handled a lot of things better. He started to reach for his flask and then thought better of it.

Maybe Firecracker's right. Maybe I am bad for the kid.

His mind raced between events long since passed and those on the previous night.

He was a weak man, he knew that, and a danger to the people he cared about. His very Semblance defined him by it.

But there was something he could do, some small way that he could aid these kids.

He leaned down, kissed his niece on the forehand, then gathered his battle gear.

He had Huntsmen to find.


They walked back along the path toward the house hand-in-hand once again, the silence having taken hold once again.

I need to say something.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"For what?" He asked confused.

"I-I didn't mean to break down on you like that."

He chuckled. "I thought over-apologizing was my thing. You're biting my style Bright-Eyes."

She punched him in the arm. "Jerk."

He rubbed his arm in mock pain.

"So, what's next? We both opened up some scars back there, scared some passersby, and almost got kicked out of a café. It's been a pretty full day."

She paused for a moment.

"I think…we just…talk."

Deep Yang.

"Yang…" His eyes found the ground. "I really wasn't ready for any of this…can we leave it alone for now? I didn't want you, any of you, to find out about it this way."

You mean you never wanted to talk about it.

"We don't have to talk about her…"

His hand tightened.

"…but I do want to talk."

I can't let you retreat again Jaune.

He looked at her curiously. "About what?"

Yeah Yang, about what?

"Tell me about home. A little birdy told me you have SEVEN sisters. What's that like?"

"Does this same birdy have a love of Patch scotch?"

She giggled. "Different birdy, but you're avoiding the question."

He sighed and smiled. "I love them all very, very much. I also hate them just a little bit for giving me…dubious skill sets growing up."

This is gonna be good.

"You are aware that you can't leave it there right?"

"I uh…may be pretty accomplished at sewing, interior design, and dancing to name a few. Not exactly the manliest of skills." He laughed.

"I don't know, sounds pretty sexy to me. Who doesn't love a man who's house trained."

Dammit! You're doing great Yang. What goes better with grief than flirting?

He poked her in the side. "You're a tease."

He's not taking me seriously! Good…maybe?

"You know me so well."

He raised an eyebrow. "Do I though? My turn. What's your home life like? I'd think between you and Ruby you'd give your dad a heart attack. Beautiful women who love explosions sound stressful."

Don't blush, don't blush, don't blush.

She blushed.

"Uhhh…I think he's just used to it at this point. You should see him and Qrow conduct mental warfare against potential boyfriends though, it's like bad cop and worse cop with a drinking problem." She laughed.

He shook his head. "I can imagine. I think it's probably best that I stay away from that minefield."

"I think you could handle it."

Why mouth, why?!

"Yeah?"

In for a penny…

"Yeah, your Aura's pretty big, they'd get tired of kicking you around eventually. You'd survive…probably."

"Wow, you make it sound so appealing." He deadpanned.

"Well there are the benefits to think about." She grinned.

Wow, there is legitimately no off switch for you huh, mouth?

He laughed. "Really? Do tell me more about this benefits package."

You know what mouth? You're ok by me.

"Maybe later, if you're good." She pointed a finger at him in mock commandment. "But I have more questions first."

They continued swapping questions back and forth all the way back to the house, talking about home, siblings, and school. They continued as they moved into the kitchen, grabbing a bite to eat, they continued as they moved into the living room, they continued as they moved into her room.

They had a lot of catching up to do.


JJD Thoughts:

Damn that was tough to write. There's a lot to unpack here guys and gals. First of all, let me go ahead with the fact that trauma and loss affect different people in different ways. I'm not unfamiliar with having to pack that shit away because you have other things to deal with in the moment, but you do eventually have to unpack it. You may not choose to do this with your family or friends because they're dealing with the same thing, you may choose to do it with a councilor of some kind, if you need it, the PM for me should be at the top of the page, I'm here to talk. I get it, the need to be strong, but everybody either vents…or they break. That's the dichotomy that we're talking about here, Qrow representing the ability to cope and survive in the moment and Yang to take the time to heal. Neither are wrong, but both are incomplete without the other.

I'll share a personal example. I come home from the deployment and find that shit isn't right at home. My world was collapsing. But my grandmother had died recently and my mom was a wreck and my unit needed a leader at the time badly. So I did what I had to. I pressed through. What got me through it? Jiu-jitsu and my coach and close friend. Just having someone to share with and something to do, something that I could make make sense, kept me sane.

This is something I've been discussing with some friends (online and in real life) that I think makes Jaune so valuable as a character. We talked about the traditional and non-traditional concepts of masculinity. I like Jaune, because he has many traits that I'd consider to be masculine, but he's definitely not traditional masculinity. He's a man that braids hair, that wears dresses, that plays terrible love ditties. It's what makes Jaune, Jaune. I think a lot of people can identify with than and feel a connection with the character because of it. If I were to boil my very definition of masculinity down to a single phrase, it would be 'being strong when you can't.' For example, Jaune has to be fucking reeling from the events of Season 3 when Season 4 starts. He's lost a school, a potential love, and a mentor. He has every reason to set down his shit and call it a day. What does he do? He rallies the troops and sets off with Ruby for Mistral. Another example is the Beacon dance, in which Jaune, a 17 year old boy, not only decides to stop pursuing a girl he likes to make her happy, but also wears a dress (at an event that the whole school is at) in an effort to help another. The kind of balls that takes at 17 are beyond me. Being a man isn't about being 'cool' it's about being there for those you care about when it matters.

Ladies I apologize for the soapbox, but I was talking from my own, admittedly narrow, viewpoint.

Second, family fights fucking suck. You're comfortable enough with each other that the real knives come out. It sucks, but sometimes it's also needed for the real healing to start.

Cr00cy: Hey guys and gals, first time speaking to you. I just wanted to add a little something from myself to this note. First of all, I agree with what JJD said. And, from personal experience, I can tell you - breaking sucks. There are 2 things that can happen if you try hold in too much - either your dam breaks and all that pent up stress blows at, in most cases, innocent people. Who often just wanted to help you. Or, you break - and now people close to you not only have to figure out how to help you, but also are very likely to blame themselves for not noticing.

But, in my opinion, worst thing is when you do NOT break. Because that means you got so used to telling everyone you are fine when you are not, that it became normal to you. And this means something inside of you died - and you probably didn't even noticed. It happened to me - I got so used to being strong for my family that I didn't noticed I got a bit too good at hiding what I felt - to the point where I couldn't really show it even if I wanted. So take this advice from me: If you ever find yourself in situation when you have to be strong for someone, find way to unwind. Just don't go into drugs or alcohol - this never ends well.

JJD: This was not a conversation that happened in a vacuum, thanks to everyone that brought something forward to it and shared their stories.

No RWBY thoughts this time. Feel free to PM me if you want to talk about the last episode, but I don't want to spoil it for people.